Corset-stay



T. G. BATES.

(ModelJ' CORSET STAY.

No; 247,729. Patented Sept; 27,1881.

f6 JMM N. PETERS. Fhclwblhcgmpher. Wmhilvglnn. D. c

UNITED STATES.

PATENT OFFICE.

THEODORE O. BATES, OF NORTH BROOKFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS.

C 0 RS ET-STAY.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 247,729, dated September 27, 1881.

Application filed June 6, 1881.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, THEODORE O. BATES, of North Brookfield, county of Worcester, and State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in OorsetStays, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification.

Corset-stays have heretofore been made of whalebone, horn, cane, and also of rawhide consolidated in a mold under heavy pressure. Such rawhide strips, stronger than horn or cane, and less expensive than whalebone or horn, when placed in a corset and moistened by perspiration from the bod y become softened, and-as they are subsequently dried, this being frequently done, twist and curl out of shape. Other stay-strips composed of steel have been inclosedin a textile tubular cover, subsequently coated or covered with liquid japan toincrease their stiffness; but such covered strips are objectionable, for when ironing the corset, or by heat, the japan is liable to stain through the material of the corset. A rawhide strip is strong and will not break, as will the steel or cane or horn strips referred to.

In my experiments aiming to produce a cheap, serviceable stay-strip which could not 'be broken, I finally selected rawhide; but before I could employ it in apractically'successfnl manner I was obliged to discover some means to protect it from the action of perspiration from the body, for when subsequently drying the rawhide strips would curl or twist more and more and destroy the corset. I discovered that I could overcome this difficulty, heretofore insurmountable, to the practical use of thin rawhide strips by covering the said strips very closely by a textile tubular covering produced thereon in a braiding-machine or in a circular loom, and subsequently coating the said covering with a sizing which would take polish and exclude perspiration from contact with the rawhide strip within the said covering, the size used being composed chiefly of the same material employed for thread-sizing, and never injuring the most delicate fabric of which the corset may be composed. This sized covering, by the action of'pressure and heat, is made to adhere cl'osel y to the rawhide in a manner very different from what it would operate with a strip of steel, and my improved (ModeL) strips so constructed will in use retain the straight flat shape given to them in the finishing operation.

My invention therefore consistsjn a staystrip composed of a narrow strip of rawhide inclosed within a close-fitting textile tubular covering, sized so as to render it proof against the action of perspiration from the body, the said covering being set by pressure and heat upon and about the said rawhide.

Figure 1 shows asection of a corset stiffened with my improved stay-strips; Fig. 2, a piece of one of my improved stay-strips with the tubular textile seamless coveringpartially removed, and Fig. 3 a section of Fig. 2 on the dotted line ac m.

In the drawings,a represents apartof acorset havinginsertedin itstay-strips b, madein accordance with myinvention. These stay-strips are composed each of a narrow piece of rawhide, 2, inclosed in a braided or woven tubular covering or jacket, 3, closely formed aboutthe said rawhide strip in a braiding-machine orin a circular or a cord or a whip covering loom of usual construction, the strip 2 serving as the core to be covered. After applying the covering 3 to the rawhide, I size or dress the said covering with a sizing or dressing, preferably such as is used in the manufacture of thread, which, subjected to pressure and heat, will stiffen the said textile tubular covering, and at the same time take polish and leave the surface of the stay-strip hard and smooth. This sizing will be so constituted or made waterproof by the addition of a little varnish or equivalent as to resist the effects of perspiration, so that the covered strips b will not become moistened by perspiration when the corset is being worn. These rawhide stripsmay be covered with thread of a color to correspond with that of the article with which the strips are to be used.

The ends of the covered strips may have metal shields applied to them, if desired; but I consider them unnecessary.

I do not broadly claim a rawhide stay-strip, nor do I broadly claim a stay-strip having a textile tubular covering, as I am aware that neither the rawhide strips nor the covering are new by themselves; but in this my invention the tubular covering acts to hold and prevent IOO or affected by perspiration, andset by pressure upon and about the said rawhide, leaving its covering smoothed and finished, the rawhide strip being thus prevented from twisting or curling, substantially as described.

In testimony whereofI have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two sub- 20 scribing witnesses.

THEODORE C. BATES.

Witnesses G. W. GREGORY, B. J. NOYEs. 

